Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013

Intensive dairy farming has changed the agricultural grassland areas of The Netherlands profoundly, with negative impacts on the reproduction of the shorebirds breeding there. This modern agricultural landscape also forms a staging site for migrating shorebirds, where they moult and replenish fuel s...

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Published in:Ardea
Main Authors: Schmaltz, Lucie E., Vega, Marta L., Verkuil, Yvonne I., Hooijmeijer, Joslyn, Piersma, Theunis
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51
https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2
https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/79784894/Use_of_agricultural_fields_by_ruffs_staging_in_southwest_Friesland_in_2003_2013.pdf
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spelling ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51 2024-06-02T08:13:12+00:00 Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013 Schmaltz, Lucie E. Vega, Marta L. Verkuil, Yvonne I. Hooijmeijer, Joslyn Piersma, Theunis 2016-04-01 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11370/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51 https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/79784894/Use_of_agricultural_fields_by_ruffs_staging_in_southwest_Friesland_in_2003_2013.pdf eng eng https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Schmaltz , L E , Vega , M L , Verkuil , Y I , Hooijmeijer , J & Piersma , T 2016 , ' Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013 ' , Ardea , vol. 104 , no. 1 , pp. 23-32 . https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2 article 2016 ftunigroningenpu https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2 2024-05-07T19:49:49Z Intensive dairy farming has changed the agricultural grassland areas of The Netherlands profoundly, with negative impacts on the reproduction of the shorebirds breeding there. This modern agricultural landscape also forms a staging site for migrating shorebirds, where they moult and replenish fuel stores, but staging performance in these areas has received much less attention. We studied northbound migrating Ruffs Philomachus pugnax staging in the grasslands of southwest Friesland over a ten year period, during which peak numbers declined from 20,000 in 2003 to 3500 birds in 2009 and then stabilized. On the basis of resighting locations of individually marked birds, we describe changes in their day-time foraging distribution from spring 2006 to spring 2013. Ruffs progressively retreated to the centre of the c. 10,000 ha study area, where, among intensive grasslands, established and newly created inland wetlands occurred that served as feeding and/or roosting sites. To quantify the spatial changes, in 2013 we repeated a transect survey of meadow use carried out earlier in 2003. Using similar characteristics of individual meadows in terms of herb richness (a measure of agricultural intensity) and landscape characteristics (distance to the roost, soil type), we show that, during spring 2013, as in 2003, Ruffs foraged preferentially on meadows close to roosting areas. The survey also highlights the preference of Ruffs for the Workumerwaard, a particularly large and open polder with a sandy soil and short vegetation bordered by a traditional roosting area on the shoreline. This study provides some evidence that inland wetlands may increase the attractiveness for migrating Ruffs of landscapes dominated by modern grasslands. Article in Journal/Newspaper Philomachus pugnax University of Groningen research database Ardea 104 1 23 32
institution Open Polar
collection University of Groningen research database
op_collection_id ftunigroningenpu
language English
description Intensive dairy farming has changed the agricultural grassland areas of The Netherlands profoundly, with negative impacts on the reproduction of the shorebirds breeding there. This modern agricultural landscape also forms a staging site for migrating shorebirds, where they moult and replenish fuel stores, but staging performance in these areas has received much less attention. We studied northbound migrating Ruffs Philomachus pugnax staging in the grasslands of southwest Friesland over a ten year period, during which peak numbers declined from 20,000 in 2003 to 3500 birds in 2009 and then stabilized. On the basis of resighting locations of individually marked birds, we describe changes in their day-time foraging distribution from spring 2006 to spring 2013. Ruffs progressively retreated to the centre of the c. 10,000 ha study area, where, among intensive grasslands, established and newly created inland wetlands occurred that served as feeding and/or roosting sites. To quantify the spatial changes, in 2013 we repeated a transect survey of meadow use carried out earlier in 2003. Using similar characteristics of individual meadows in terms of herb richness (a measure of agricultural intensity) and landscape characteristics (distance to the roost, soil type), we show that, during spring 2013, as in 2003, Ruffs foraged preferentially on meadows close to roosting areas. The survey also highlights the preference of Ruffs for the Workumerwaard, a particularly large and open polder with a sandy soil and short vegetation bordered by a traditional roosting area on the shoreline. This study provides some evidence that inland wetlands may increase the attractiveness for migrating Ruffs of landscapes dominated by modern grasslands.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Schmaltz, Lucie E.
Vega, Marta L.
Verkuil, Yvonne I.
Hooijmeijer, Joslyn
Piersma, Theunis
spellingShingle Schmaltz, Lucie E.
Vega, Marta L.
Verkuil, Yvonne I.
Hooijmeijer, Joslyn
Piersma, Theunis
Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013
author_facet Schmaltz, Lucie E.
Vega, Marta L.
Verkuil, Yvonne I.
Hooijmeijer, Joslyn
Piersma, Theunis
author_sort Schmaltz, Lucie E.
title Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013
title_short Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013
title_full Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013
title_fullStr Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013
title_full_unstemmed Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013
title_sort use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest friesland in 2003–2013
publishDate 2016
url https://hdl.handle.net/11370/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51
https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2
https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/79784894/Use_of_agricultural_fields_by_ruffs_staging_in_southwest_Friesland_in_2003_2013.pdf
genre Philomachus pugnax
genre_facet Philomachus pugnax
op_source Schmaltz , L E , Vega , M L , Verkuil , Y I , Hooijmeijer , J & Piersma , T 2016 , ' Use of agricultural fields by ruffs staging in southwest Friesland in 2003–2013 ' , Ardea , vol. 104 , no. 1 , pp. 23-32 . https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2
op_relation https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5fa4b3d1-b6f4-4a2d-afb5-f304a7715e51
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i1.a2
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container_volume 104
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